The Kabul Tribune (KT) — Russia launched one of its largest aerial assaults on Ukraine's capital early Thursday, killing at least 27 people, injuring 91 others and damaging about 130 buildings in Kyiv in the deadliest attack on the city this year, Reuters reported.
According to Ukrainian officials, Russia fired 496 drones and 74 missiles overnight, triggering explosions across Kyiv as thousands of residents sought shelter in underground metro stations and bomb shelters. Rescue operations continued into the night, with authorities warning the death toll could rise as crews searched through the rubble for missing residents.
Tymur Tkachenko, head of Kyiv's military administration, said five bodies were recovered from one residential site in the city's eastern district, while eight people remained unaccounted for.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy cut short a visit to Ireland and returned to Kyiv, where he visited a heavily damaged residential building. He said the scale of destruction reflected delays by allies in delivering promised air defense systems.
"If our partners had delivered on their promises in a timely manner, I think we could have saved more homes and lives today," Zelenskyy said, renewing calls for additional air defense support ahead of next week's NATO summit in Turkey.
Ukraine's Air Force said the overnight barrage included an unusually high number of ballistic missiles, while the interception rate was lower than usual because of shortages of Patriot interceptor missiles.
Russia's Defense Ministry said its forces targeted military infrastructure, energy facilities and airports in Kyiv and other locations using long-range precision missiles and drones. Moscow described the strikes as retaliation for recent Ukrainian drone attacks inside Russia.
Ukraine, meanwhile, said it struck an oil refinery in Russia's Nizhny Novgorod region overnight. Regional authorities reported one person was killed in an attack on an industrial facility.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko declared Friday a day of mourning after damage was reported across much of the city. Ukrainian officials said children, paramedics and ambulance workers were among those injured.
The Ukrainian Red Cross said one of its humanitarian warehouses in Kyiv was destroyed during the attack, resulting in the loss of about 320,000 relief items intended for emergency response operations.
The European Union's foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, condemned the strikes and said she would propose additional sanctions against entities supporting Russia's military-industrial complex. U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres also condemned the attack, describing it as part of a continuing pattern of deadly strikes on populated areas.
Ukraine has intensified long-range attacks on Russian energy infrastructure in recent months, while Russia has expanded its air campaign against Ukrainian cities. Zelenskyy said Ukrainian and U.S. officials had held talks over the past two days and expressed hope of meeting U.S. President Donald Trump on the sidelines of next week's NATO summit in Turkey.
